


Honey the kids are mutants!

by Mayo_Queen



Series: The Mutant Effect [1]
Category: Mass Effect, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Multi, Original Shepard - Freeform, childhood shepard, pre game shepard, shepards a mutant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 10:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7098643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayo_Queen/pseuds/Mayo_Queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crossover between mass effect and x-men. Basic idea, 'what if Shepard was a mutant?' and this fic was born. This is the first part of three, following Shepard as a child and eventually up to where the first game starts. Some violence during battles and some fights.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honey the kids are mutants!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, just a heads up I'm Aussie, so if things are spelled a bit weird I'm sorry. I might accidentally use some slang here and there if you're ever confused just ask.
> 
> I put it in the tags, but I'll put it here as well, this is MY Shepard and her family. Not Jane Shepard and her family. I understand that some people prefer reading about Jane over other Shepards, so I just thought I would give you guys a heads up again just in case.
> 
> I try and edit my own fics, but if you see any mistakes please tell me. This is also my first real fic so please be kind :)

The first contact war was a time of great sadness and great progression. It was the first time Tim had ever tasted a real war. It was also the first time he'd ever fought alongside an open mutant. He'd been more terrified than he'd cared to admit. Commander June Petterson was her name. She was a great warrior, capable of lifting 13 tonnes on her own. She was bullet proof, and his commanding officer.

Mutants had been shunned for years; those who came out were almost always treated horribly. Fear and hatred always brought out the worst in humanity. This was no different. Commander Petterson had chosen to come out on her own. Her determination to protect Earth had spurred others of her kind to also come out. With the sudden rise of identified mutant’s scientist were able to detect the gene in infants.

It had been a calculated loss on the mutant’s part as far as Tim could tell. He swallowed, looking at the Commander. The red stripe down her arm identified her as a mutant. He found himself staring at it sometimes. She must have noticed.

“Got something to say soldier?” Commander Petterson asked not moving from her forward position.

Tim could recognize that it wasn't the time to start up a friendly chat. Not in the middle of a mission. He shuffled a bit, crouched behind cover with his gun held tightly against his chest.

“It… It's nothing ma’am.” 

Her helmet tilted slightly in his direction, she paused.

“If it turns out to be something, talk to me when we're done.” She said bluntly. 

Tim couldn't tell if he'd insulted her. But he quickly looked away in shame. His face was hot with embarrassment. He'd not intended for her to notice… 

The squad was waiting for the call to charge. The Commander would run in first, draw all the fire, then he and the other 2 would enter, provide support or sneak past enemy lines to find what information they could on the Turians. It had been drilled in their heads that information would win them this war, that despite their own forces being dwarfed by the Turians, victory could be attained if they were smart. Tim didn’t understand it all himself, his wife had, so he trusted that it would work. She was always right after all. 

He looked around at their surroundings, not wanting to be caught staring at his commanding officer again. It was a barren place, dry grass that crunched under his foot. It wasn’t Earth; the sky was more of a redish colour. The water was the colour of rust, and neither side could safely drink it without filtering it more than the Chinese filter their internet. And even then, it still had a metal after taste that Tim didn’t like. Neither side wanted to stay on this planet. The war had been going for some time, and both sides wanted this to end. The base they were trying to invade was in the middle of, as far as Tim could tell, a shipping yard. There was a lot of cover, but also a lot of camera’s that could place his squad easy. It was his job to find and shoot as many as he could. So far he’d shot down 12, he knew there were more, the Commander had joked that it meant the base must be worth it. Tim wasn’t so sure…

It was so quiet though, all he could hear was the low hum of his gun and his own breath. He felt uncomfortable having been crouched down for so long. He was a big guy, and he knew that tomorrow his joints would be angry. He could already feel his legs start to cramp. He quickly glanced at his Commander; the command rang out through the comms in helmet. His commander cried out as she ran towards the building, punching through anything and anyone in her way. Shot’s tore through her shields as the enemy tried to take her down. Tim sprang into action, moving the rest of the squad around the side of the compound. 

“In position Commander,” He said trough the comms, he could hear his blood pumping. 

He looked over to the rest of his squad. They had to wait for the Commander before they could start taking the building from the inside. It was a tense couple of minutes as they waited. 

“Go!” The Commander ordered them.

To Tim everything felt like it was going in slow motion. They moved out of cover, he shot a Turian through the head as they went to an access point. He could hear a loud smashing noise in the distance. He looked in its direction as someone broke down the door in front of them. 

“I’m in, find the control room and kill as many of these fuckers as you can on the way.” 

The Commander seethed through the comms, and Tim was very grateful that they were both on the same side. 

The door behind Tim fell with a loud crash and Tim swore under his breath as he turned back quickly to move forward. He took point as his squad followed behind him inside the compound.

It was a grey cement building that was surprisingly warm. He and his team ran through the long hallway, they’d studied the layout of the building the night before and Tim had a great sense of direction. He took a sudden turn almost smashing into a Turian soldier. Both of them scrambled to their feet, the Turian managed to regain his footing before Tim and almost took him out, but Tim punched the alien in the face, having dropped his gun like a dickhead. Panic took over as Tim started wailing on this Turian, His squad members quickly came up behind him, reminding him that he had back up. He let go of the Turian, breathing heavily, he looked back at his team mates. He turned back to the Turian having heard a pained groan. Tim’s team mate stepped forward past him, quickly shooting the Alien in the head. 

“It was in pain Tim.” 

Tim swallowed; he didn’t like how cold his team mate’s voice was. Harving was his name, a tall, slim man with little patience for wasting time. Tim didn’t mind working with him, Harving got the job done no matter what stood in his way. Tim just understood that he could easily count as ‘in the way’. 

He nodded to Harving, he moved past his squad member, picked up his gun and quickly moved to the control centre of the building. Tim jogged the rest of the way, opting to pause at corners and look around before bolting through. Just because they had the Commander did not mean that everything was safe. He was happy the earlier reminder of that ended with someone else’s brains on the floor. He shuddered at the thought; any guilt he felt could be saved for the pych. 

They ran up to the door, Harving taking the position on the other side of it as their third team member stayed behind Tim. 

“We’re in position Commander.” Tim reported, waiting for the next set of instructions. 

“Good. Get it done. I’ve done a sweep of the building.” The Commander shot back, short of breath. 

Tim nodded to Harving, who nodded back. The third member of their squad moved in front of the door and with one strong kick busted down the door, then got shot down as a hailstorm of bullets left the room. It looks like the person inside had seen them coming. Tim looked over to Harving; he could see the man counting down with his fingers at his side. As he hit 0 the bullets stopped and the man quickly shot back with the same ferocity. Tim joined a few seconds later having been surprised by the other man’s fast movement. Tim stopped when Harving did and watched the tall man cautiously enter the room.

Tim felt like he couldn’t breathe in his helmet. He honestly just wanted to rip it off so he could take in a proper breath; he halted however, looking over at Harving. The man looked so composed. The adrenaline left Tim’s system, making him feel nauseous and weary. He stayed just outside the room, keeping an eye out for anyone coming their way. He tried not to think about the woman dead at his feet, he tried even harder not to notice Harving shooting the prone Turian bodies inside. ‘Just to make sure’ Harving would always say. Tim couldn’t argue, they weren’t meant to leave anyone alive on this mission. 

It still made him feel sick though. 

“Helen was never that great a fighter.” Tim jumped, looking over at Harving.

The man had his helmet off, which was against regulations. He had cropped dirty blond hair and a bright red scar across the bridge of his sharp nose. He wasn’t a very attractive man in Tim’s opinion, all bone and sinew; with high cheek bones and dark eyes. But Harvings appearance was none of Tim’s business, he wasn’t the one that would have to wake up next to that corpse face; and he felt sorry for whoever did. 

“You don’t have to be a good fighter to be a marine.” Tim quipped back, he didn’t appreciate Harving’s attitude toward their fallen comrade.

Harving scoffed in response.

“Explains how you managed to get in.” He said dismissively. 

Tim’s chest puffed out, he was about to snap at the man until their Commander came walking up the hall way.

“Don’t worry girls, you’re both pretty.” Her tone was light hearted. 

Tim could tell she was trying to ease tensions. He and Harving snapped to attention though, both of them apologizing for bickering. She waved off the apology; her armour was caked with blue blood and bits… Bit of what Tim could only guess was a winning combination of Turian and rubble. The Commander looked down at their fallen comrade. 

“God damn it Helen,” She muttered under her breath.

She looked up at Tim and Harving “Alright, mission complete.” 

She turned to Harving. “Find anything useful?” 

“Yes ma’am, information on bio weapons, and some schematics that I can only guess the purpose of.” Harving replied quickly. 

The Commander nodded. “Good. It was worth it then.” 

She’d said the last bit softly. Tim could understand if the compound had been empty or useless… Well Tim didn’t want to think about survivor’s guilt at this point in time, Helen’s sacrifice had been worth it, and he knew the Commander would make sure she was remembered. 

“Did you clear out the base Commander?” Harving asked his tone serious.

Tim’s eyes snapped to the tall man, and then slowly moved back to the Commander. He’d hoped they’d be able to keep at least a few people alive. He didn’t like all the needless bloodshed. 

“Yes Harving, I wouldn’t be this lovely shade of blue otherwise.” The Commander replied coolly.

Tim tried to hide his snicker as Harving looked away embarrassed. 

“Yes. Sorry Commander.” He said quickly, tail between his legs as he walked back into the control room.

Tim stood straight as the Commanders gaze fell back on him. “Laughing at your comrades isn’t very nice soldier.” Her tone was mocking.

“I know.” Tim replied. 

He didn’t feel like being nice to a man like Harving, so he wouldn’t. He was almost about to apologize for being disrespectful, but hearing his Commander laugh stopped him. He was filled with a small sense of pride.

“Commander, I’ve gotten a hold of the closest base, if you wanted to send a report through.” Harving said, ruining the moment and bringing Tim down to Earth again.

The Commander grunted in ascent and walked past Tim into the room. Tim looked down at Helen, he sighed, and he picked her up as softly as he could putting her down in the control room. The room was a mess, blue blood everywhere; Tim hated the sound it make under his boots. He moved to where the Turians were and did the same for them, Harving sneered at him for it, but Tim believed in doing what was right. And if he’d died instead of them, he hoped they would have at least been respectful of his body. Tim almost hurled at the sight of some of the bodies; their armour the only thing keeping them together. Once he finished grouping all the Turians in this room he’d take stock of the others floating around the base. Eventually they’d all be lying out together; he’d leave it up to the alliance to decide what to do with them.  
He wasn’t sure what Turians did for their dead, or if there were ethnic differences for them like humans. He slowly looked over and probed their armour, hoping to find something akin to dog tags; he didn’t have much luck however.

“They have chips, when their vitals stop working it tells their superiors that they’re dead.” Tim looked up, slightly shocked to see his Commander. 

He looked back at the bodies, he was happy their families would know and be able to morn.

“Well at least that’s what the soldiers have, there were a few science types here too. Dunno if they have something similar.” The Commander amended. 

Tim nodded, before standing up. 

"Does that mean we'll be attacked soon ma'am?" He looked at her, a firm look on his face.

There was a long pause; he could hear Harving doing something in the distance. His fists clenched slightly, his heart beat was slow but Tim could still hear the dull beat through the silence.

"No. It wouldn't be tactically sound for them to try and send their forces in. We took their one base on this damned place, and have most of the sky around it on lock down. Or at least we will soon." Tim breathed out slowly, he hadn't noticed he'd been holding it until then. 

“Any orders ma’am?” He asked, his tone dripping with exhaustion.

He could feel her gaze through the helmet.

“Orders are to stay here, until the Alliance can send more bastards here to take our place.” Tim nodded in understanding. 

It was still weird being part of the Alliance, it was a global effort to get along on humanities part. But there had still been private militaries for most countries right up until the war. Tim had been with the Commonwealths army, Canada division. He was happy everyone was able to work together, don’t get him wrong, it was just weird sometimes working with people of the same rank that he never would have met if not for the war. In some cases he was happy to meet them, in Harving’s, he was not. 

\--------------------------

It was a few hours later when the squad was waiting outside, away from the stench of blood and death, that Tim found himself REALLY wanting to talk to his Commander. He was sitting across from her, they’d found a few seats outside and brought them together. They were in the middle of a small clearing of creates. Harving had hooked up a small screen to the control centre wirelessly, so the Commander could use what cameras were left to make sure they weren’t caught off guard. She caught him staring twice, and he felt like an awkward teenage boy. But he waited until Harving left to go to the bathroom to finally ask.

“You’re a mutant right?” He stammered out, talking before he could think properly.

The Commander blinked at him, both of them had foregone helmets at least an hour ago. 

“You don’t say?” She said, with a bemused tone and a cheeky smirk.

Tim swallowed. “What I mean to say is, Commander… If I may, wh-what is it like BEING and mutant?” He finally got out.

The Commander sighed, her auburn hair catching the light of the darkening sky. Creases formed around her eyes, as she rubbed her forehead. Her skin had a slight shine to it from the sweat, it was pale and freckled. She looked at him with tired hazel eyes. 

“Why do you care?”

Tim didn’t want to offend; he tried to pick his next words carefully. 

“I have three kids, a boy and two girls. And their mother… she’s Korean, she’s had to deal with a lot of racial stuff, that I just… That I can never understand completely.” He looked up at his Commander, she was leaning forward slightly curious as to where this was going. 

He continued, “All three of my kids got tested for the mu-” He swallowed “The X-gene, and they all came back positive. Now, I’ve tried, as a white man to understand the racial issues my kids will have to go through so I can be there for them as much as I can… But… I don’t really know who to talk to about this…” He said the last part softly.

He looked up at his Commander for anything; he’d even take a scolding for stepping out of line. Anything was better than the silent contemplative look she was giving him. She sat up and rolled her shoulders, before looking him directly in the eye.

“Look. I don’t know what kind of advice I can give you. I haven’t been out as a mutant for long; I also pass as a normal human. One or even all of your kids might not be so lucky.”

Tim nodded, he didn’t completely understand what she meant by ‘pass’, but he could always ask later.

“The fact that you’re willing to talk to myself about this speaks volumes though. Your kids are very lucky to have you.” She reasoned her voice even.

“My parents weren’t so reasonable. If you really want to know more about what your kids might have to face, you’re welcome to ask me, I have a few friends that might be able to give you more information on it though.” She finished. 

“Can I ask something?” 

She nodded, and Tim continued.

“What do you mean by ‘pass as human’?” 

The Commander frowned a bit, but Tim got the feeling it wasn’t directed at him.

“Passing as human is just as it sounds. I pass as human because I look human right?” 

Tim nodded.

“Right. Well there are mutants out there that don’t, some have tails, or growths or even abnormally coloured skin. They either can’t or have a difficult time passing as humans.” Her tone was almost clinical, like she wanted to distance herself from the topic.

“So they would be treated differently?” Tim said mostly to himself, the Commander nodded in return. 

Tim sighed, thinking to himself. The Commander seemed to sense that the conversation was over and opted to do a quick check of their rations. 

Tim loved his children dearly; he didn’t think that would change if one of them turned green. Or at least he hoped not. He’d just hoped that his children never had to deal with that. Being half Korean would already rob them of some opportunities’ in life, he hoped that being mutants wouldn’t rob them of anymore. 

“Shepard!” Tim looked up seeing his Commander standing a few meters away.

She gestured for him to come over; he could see a shuttle touch down behind her. It looked like their ride back to base was here. Red coloured his face, he hadn't even noticed what was going on, he'd been so deep in his thoughts. He quickly stood, grabbing his helmet and running towards his Commander, he could see Harving already with her as he approached. He was keen to leave this planet; he promised he’d call his kids as soon as this mission was over. He didn’t want to keep them waiting too long past their bedtime. He stepped into the shuttle after the Commander, but before Harving. Sitting down with a relieved sigh he watched as the shuttle took off, he looked over to his Commander. She was wearing a tired grin, they nodded at each other. He was looking forward to serving under this Commander.


End file.
